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The scarred woman confidently strode onto the stage at the Imperial Grand Hotel at the start of the scheduled afternoon performances. A white top hat adorned her raven hair, which was worn loose about her gold threaded brocade tuxedo jacket covered shoulders.
"Bonjour, Monsieurs, Madames, petits! I am Madame Rachael Douglas, and together with my partner, Empress Mallow, we plan to dazzle you with feats of sorcellerie."
The spotlight that highlighted her entrance now trailed behind her, in search of the other part to this magic demonstration.
"Mon dieu, it appears that the Empress is, how do you say, fashionably late for the performance. Perhaps it is best that we should start without her, non?"
Laughter from the smaller and younger members of the audience drew Rachael's attention to the blue silk covered table where the items necessary for the performance had been set up. Among the props was a white fluffball kitten that preened and posed under her blue glitter top hat adorned with a white silk star lily.
"It seems that my fou f?lin has, how do you say, beat me to the punch, after all." The Watchwoman's lips twitched with unrestrained amusement. "Very well. Mallow, it is showtime."
She withdrew what appeared to be a simple magic wand from an inside pocket of her tuxedo jacket, and waved it dramatically over the kitten. A kaleidoscope of colored light washed over Mallow, and she zipped under cover of the light show to the platform set up so that the relatively tiny kitten could be seen easily even by those in the back seats to the performance.
"For our first display of sorcellerie, we shall try Wizard Blades versus a Shield?." Rachael's words trailed off as a hailstorm of blue plastic swizzle sticks flew her way when Mallow swished her bottlebrush tail. Laughter issued from the audience. "Empress, you are supposed to wait until I say ready to do that?." She realized her mistake as more of the swizzle sticks flew at her, accompanied by more audience laughter. "Mallow, non."
A collective "Aww!" rose from the audience when the kitten flopped on her belly on the platform, and put her paws in front of her sapphire blue eyes.
"Let us try that again, non?" Rachael waved the wand in a circle before her, and a shimmering blue energy field formed. "Now, mon petit f?lin. Ready."
Mallow sat up and swished her bottlebrush tail. The swizzle sticks gathered up and shot for the blue energy field, which dramatically fizzled out upon contact.
"Tres bonne, petit. On Twilight Isle, that is an effective attack strategy. We will now show you what can happen if someone expects such an attack. Mallow, you know what to do this time, non? Ready."
Rachael waved the wand over the swizzle sticks and they shot out toward the kitten, but halted in mid-air before Mallow to fall harmlessly around her. Another collective "Aww!" escaped from the audience at the out and out adorably cute big-eyed expression on the kitten's face.
"That, mon amis, is what is known as using a Mind Whip to stop the blades. The Empress, of course, has her own special way of performing such an attack on the mind, non?" Mallow preened on the platform to bursts of spontaneous applause from the crowd, which made the kitten preen even more.
"And now, for our final performance of the day, we shall show you what a mutual attack looks like. This is where two spells combine to gain points for both in the ring. Mallow, you know what to do, non?"
Almost indignant mews issued from the kitten, as if to say 'Of course I know what to do, you silly human pet!', which brought out waves of laughter from the audience. Rachael's lips twitched fiercely with amusement.
"Very well. Mallow. Ready."
Rachael's Lunar gray Gargoyle dark lens shielded sapphire blue eyes stared intently at Mallow, while a barrage of blue silk pillows simultaneously flew from the prop table to pelt the kitten's human pet.
"Tres bonne, petit. That combination was known as a Mind Whip on my part, and Meteor Shower on the part of the Empress. Her form of that spell is much more harmless than the spell sounds, non?"
Mallow preened on the platform again to bursts of applause.
"And that concludes our part of the performances of sorcellerie today. Again, I am Madame Rachael Douglas?." Rachael's words trailed off as Mallow leaped from the platform to be caught easily in her human pet's arms. "And this is Empress Mallow. We bid you farewell for now, and look forward to seeing you on Twilight Isle in the future. Au revoir!"
Rachael bowed gracefully with Mallow in her arms. Under cover of the applause and cheers from the audience, she spoke softly to the kitten, "One day, mon petit, I will not be there to catch you. But that day is not today."
They left the stage while the stagehands cleaned up the props in preparation for the next act to begin.
